Miniature Scottish Highland cow & I have questions.

[sho14200]

Hello. We recently bought a miniature Scottish Highland heifer. When she was finally ready to come home we went to pick her up and saw how bad her momma looked (baby looks great) I decided to buy her too, couldn't leave her there. She needs a lot of weight, bones are showing. She has eaten quite well and has free range hay & pasture. Today you could tell she's really hot, wouldn't really eat her feed, did eat some range cubes and is eating grass. She's drooling some but is drinking well, pooping and peeing. She does call to the others, but don't want to mix her in quite yet - they're all on open pasture and she and the heifer need the feed. We will be moving her to the side pasture where there's more trees and a much larger area so she can feel like more of the herd until she can gain weight and be introduced to the rest. Just not sure what else to do. Our herd is small, made up of mostly Brangus so these are new to me. Any input will be appreciated. Thanks so much!

 

[A.J.]

:welcome: Welcome to the boards. Is the calf weaned or still nursing? If the calf is nursing, I would wean it to help the mother start building back up sooner. I would also make sure to worm both of them and put out some good minerals. I would keep them separate from the rest of your herd until you see significant improvement in the cow to make sure she doesn't have anything contagious. Hope they turn out well for you.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Welcome!
Where are you located?
I do not know much about the breed, however the few I have seen in hot climates liked to stand in water to cool off.
A.J. Gave you some good advice about worming and keeping separate.

 

[Atgreene]

Comb her, any excess hair will shed with the comb, it also will make her much friendlier and easier to handle. We have several pastures with streams and they do like to stand in them. Don't hesitate to put out a lawn sprinkler for her to walk through on hot days, as well as minerals, you may also want to dust her with diatomacious earth to deal with any hangers-on from her previous pasture mates etc...
They're a friendly breed, once they know you're there to feed them and comb them they'll be like the family dog.

 

[Rahe Family Belties]

Had a similar event with a crossbred cow. She wound up with fescue poisoning.

Sorry, I forget what we had to treat her with, but she did recover. Maybe the hay is endophyte-infected fescue and she is not acclimated to it.

She still struggles in hot weather, liking to stand in water tanks. I avoid fescue as much as possible.

Fans help, along with clipping their long hair off bellies, necks and heads. A funny looking clipped cow is much more valuable than a dead one with hair.

I would also avoid feeds that produce too much heat(corn and other grains). Be patient in trying to put weight on her.

As mentioned above, a good worming would not hurt.

We'd love to see pix!

 

[sho14200]

Thanks so much for all your comments. Today she looked much better and ready to eat. I have also changed my morning feeding to much earlier while it is cooler out. She's been in Florida her whole life though she did have much more shade at her previous home. We have put up a shelter for her to get out of the sun when the trees aren't much help and we did worm them both. Getting a sprinkler tomorrow and can't wait until she and her calf can get out in the big pasture with the pond. It's also been raining in the afternoon, a good breeze the past few days and I think that has helped. Going to take it day by day, groom her some and while Gretta (baby) has been handled some she's still a little standoffish. Hopefully she will come around a little more and I can brush her too. She's doing great, she was weaned and then when we got momma they were out back together, Gretta tried to nurse a couple time and Momma quickly cut her off so that's a done deal. Our pastures are awesome so grass is plentiful and I keep good quality hay out. Slowly but surely we will get her back to good, very excited to have them here.